Final Fantasy 16 has been on the market for a few weeks, but the latest title’s sales figures have continued to be divisive. It quickly sold 3 million units in the first week, showing an impressive adoption rate for a limited PS5 user base.
However, many fans have claimed that a massive franchise like Final Fantasy should display better results, and this could have been the case if Square Enix had launched on more platforms like PC and Xbox.
While Square Enix appears to be satisfied with the game’s sales, a new report claims that the gaming giant was hoping for better results for Final Fantasy 16.
Why it matters: Games are becoming more expensive to create, leading to higher risks for each new AAA project. This has led to huge pressure for big releases.
Square Enix – couple of things going on 1) FF16 3m units the company said was inline but had hoped for more 2) They fully expensed the cost of FF16 in 1Q so future sales are all profits 3) they wrote-off/expensed titles that were in development as they refocus on AAA…. 1/2 https://t.co/9k8zzKF4CS
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) August 7, 2023
The report comes from David Gibson, Senior Analyst at MST Financial. He has been known to report on various matters of the gaming industry, and his latest report concerns the popular JRPG franchise.
According to the report, Square Enix had already expected around 3 million sales for the game. This was a realistic expectation, given that the PS5 has just recently crossed the 40 million sales mark.
As such, nearly 8% of the console’s users have already purchased the game at launch. However, Square Enix hoped for better numbers to ensure profits on an expensive AAA project.
While the gaming giant has not commented on the report, previous data shows it does not sound completely far-fetched. Recently, Square Enix saw a massive hit, with operating income falling by nearly 80% this quarter.
Following its launch, Final Fantasy 16 also saw a sharp decline in physical sales in the Japanese market. On the other hand, Square Enix has publically commented on the sales before, claiming that they have been extremely strong so far.
Nonetheless, David Gibson states that future sales will go toward profits for Final Fantasy 16, with Square Enix having recovered the budget through initial sales. This leads to high potential for the upcoming PC release.
The game is already in development for the platform and will likely arrive at some point in 2024.
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